Flaws highlight challenges facing Giants this season

It was one of those games where you had a hard time reconciling the good with the bad. The insanely beautiful with the incredibly ugly. The moments of perfection with the long stretches of flawed execution.

So if Sunday night's season-opening loss to the Dallas Cowboys is any indication, it's going to be a maddening season for the Giants.

No one cares about style points in the NFL. There's no one passing judgment on how pretty things looked between the lines. And if the Giants had somehow managed to pull this one out, instead of losing 36-31, maybe some of this would have been forgotten.

But they didn't, and so it can't be.

It's hard to know where to begin.

Three days after Peyton Manning was incredible in throwing a record-tying seven touchdown passes in Denver's win over Baltimore, his brother Eli threw four touchdown passes, including three to Victor Cruz. One of them went for 70 yards, and he threw for 201 yards in the fourth quarter alone.

But he also threw three interceptions. Bad interceptions. The one on their first play of the game, where he hit Cowboys end DeMarcus Ware in the chest on a screen pass, set a really bad tone.

And then, with the game hanging in the balance and the Giants driving with less than two minutes to play, he failed to connect with running back De'Rei Scott on a screen pass, with the tipped pass getting returned for a touchdown.

It was the little things.

Had someone in the escort leading safety Ryan Mundy downfield after his interception of Tony Romo at the Giants' 7-yard-line just gotten a piece of running back DeMarco Murray, he wouldn't have been able to make the tackle at the 1-yard-line after a 90-yard return. The Giants settled for a field goal.

David Wilson fumbled the ball away twice, with the second one getting returned for a touchdown in the third quarter.

There were times where the defense actually looked pretty good.

Early in the game they were able to keep the game close, trailing just 6-3 in the second quarter even though the offense turned it over on each of their first three possessions. And they managed to get the ball back for the offense by making solid stands in the fourth quarter.

But there were also numerous breakdowns, while failing to get consistent pressure on Romo in the pocket.

In reality, the Cowboys needed this game more than the Giants did.

Head coach Jason Garrett's seat couldn't be hotter, Romo needs to win some big games to justify his super-size contract and owner Jerry Jones had seen the Giants go 4-0 here since he built this palace.

But the Giants lack of focus and general sloppiness was inexcusable, and leaves you wondering exactly what the future holds this season.

If the Giants were looking to make a statement about their intentions this season, which include playing in Super Bowl XLVIII in MetLife Stadium in February, they certainly did. It's hard to imagine the rest of the league being particularly concerned with either of these teams right now.

But there is still time. It's only the first game, and there were those slight rays of hope mixed in amongst to agonizing moments.

Now, it's a matter of figuring out how to eliminate the catastrophic mistakes which, had they just made one less of, they could have won.

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Flaws highlight challenges facing Giants this season

It was one of those games where you had a hard time reconciling the good with the bad. The insanely beautiful with the incredibly ugly. The moments of perfection with the long stretches of flawed

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